James Oertell Burson (October 13, 1940 – August 2, 2022) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player from LaGrange, Georgia. Burson played college football at Auburn and was selected in the eleventh round of the

1963 NFL Draft The 1963 National Football League draft was held at the Sheraton in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, December 3, 1962. The first overall selection was quarterback Terry Baker of Oregon State, the Heisman Trophy winner, taken by the Los Angeles ...

by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. He was also selected by the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

in the eighth round of the

1963 AFL Draft The 1963 American Football League draft was held in Dallas on Saturday, December 1, 1962. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted as the Dallas Texans, as their relocation would take place a few months later. With the first overall selection, they took B ...

. Burson played five seasons with the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

from 1963–1967 and intercepted 12 passes. He also returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers in 1964. He finished his NFL career in 1968 with the Atlanta Falcons. Following his playing career, Burson remained in metro Atlanta and began coaching at the high school level. The highlight of his career was a 12-year stint as head coach at Milton High School from 1974 to 1985. Burson died on August 2, 2022, at the age of 81.

References

1940 births 2022 deaths Players of American football from LaGrange, Georgia LaGrange High School (Georgia) alumni St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Atlanta Falcons players Auburn Tigers football players {{Defensiveback-1940s-stub